A Convenient Proposal(25)

Her breathing had changed. “Parcheesi? Backgammon?”

“Right.” He released her and started down the hallway. “I think there’s a set in the living room—”

“You’re not going anywhere.” She gripped his elbow to stop him, then pulled him around to face her.

Not that Griff made it hard. He’d only been teasing.

So she was smiling as her arms circled his neck. “How about spin the bottle?”

He folded his arms around her waist. “Let’s skip the bottle part.”

“Good idea.”

Still he paused a moment, studying the flecks of green in her gray eyes and anticipating the pleasure promised by her soft, rosy mouth…until, with a desperate little sound, Arden dragged his head down and pressed her lips against his.

Relief swamped him first—he wasn’t in this thing alone, thank God. Then desire surged through him and he drowned in it, pulling Arden tight against him to indulge all of his many fantasies about kissing her. Her sweet mouth surrendered and he took full advantage, tasting and stroking, groaning with pleasure as she made her own demands, satisfied her own needs.

She wore an ocean-green cashmere sweater that seemed to disappear beneath his palms…but not quite, so he slipped one hand underneath to find her skin every bit as silky as he’d anticipated. The new jeans he’d admired because they were tight meant he couldn’t do the same at her waist, but he smoothed a hand over the curve of her hip and the swell of her bottom and was rewarded when she pressed her belly even closer to his. Then she lifted her knee to the outside of his thigh and he pretty much lost his mind. The sane part of it, anyway.

Strong and hard and sure…he felt like an anchor to Arden, a rock she could cling to while her head spun and her knees dissolved. His hands moved on her body, a glorious, intimate pressure she wanted to feel on every inch of her skin. Or that might be his mouth, instead, exploring the arch of her neck and the curl of her ear.

Clearly, they both had too many clothes on, because she couldn’t get his shirttail out of his jeans fast enough to satisfy her craving for the feel of his flesh beneath her fingertips. She needed him closer, needed his weight on top of her to bear down against the aches he was creating there, down low, with just the press of his palm over her breast….

“Ow!” He jerked away, staggering back against the other wall of the hallway. “Damn it, what is your problem?”

Dropped all the way to ground zero, Arden sagged against the door frame, panting and staring. “Wh-what?”

Griff paid no attention. He was shaking his leg, trying to detach the dog’s jaws clamped around his calf.

“Igor!” She grabbed his bright green collar and pulled. “Bad dog, Igor. Release. Stop it.”

“Ow!” Griff put out his hands. “He’s got his teeth in my leg. Don’t shake him anymore. Talk to him calmly. Try coaxing him away.”

“Igor.” Arden knelt beside the dog, stroking his sides and back. “Igor, let go. Good boy, come on, good boy. You made him stop. That’s a good doggy, Igor. Let’s get a treat.”

Though it seemed to take forever, once Griff stood still, Igor finally backed off.

“Now follow through,” Griff told Arden. “Give him a treat.”

“Are you all right?”

“Sure.” He straightened and took a deep breath. “But maybe I should head back up to the house.”

“Um…okay.”

He gave a half smile. “Maybe Igor could stay in the kitchen while I make my getaway?”

Arden took the dog to the kitchen and gave him a chew bone, then made sure both doors to the room were shut.

“I am so sorry,” she said as she joined Griff at the front door. “He has had all his vaccinations.” She eyed the rip in Griff’s jeans. “Maybe you should see a doctor tonight, though. Dog bites—”

He straightened up from leaning against the wall. “Are an occupational hazard for veterinarians. Don’t worry about me.” With a knuckle under her chin, he lifted her face to his for a restrained kiss. “I’m just sorry we were interrupted. You pack a powerful punch, Ms. Arden Burke.”

She felt her cheeks heat with a blush. “So do you. I hope…” Taking a deep breath, she finished quickly. “I hope we’ll pick up where we left off. Soon.”

Instead of smiling, as she expected, he gave her a serious, searching look. “Me, too. G’night,” he added, giving her a last caress. “Sleep as late as you want and come up to the house when you’re ready.”